Magnetic tiles and method of installation thereof

ABSTRACT

A tile is for installation with at least another tile on a wall surface having magnetic properties, the tile comprising a rear surface, a front surface and a peripheral edge. The tile rear surface has magnetic properties for magnetic adherence to the surface, and the peripheral edge of the tile defines first and second fastening means, the first fastening means of a given tile for releasable connection to the second fastening means of an adjacent tile.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to tiles, and more particularly tomagnetic tiles and a method of installation thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is sometimes desirable to replace individual tiles or a group oftiles already mounted to a wall, because they have been broken, chipped,discoloured, for decorative reasons, etc. However, conventional outdoorand indoor tiles are generally adhered by means of mortar, adhesive orthe like, to the underlying surface (plaster, drywall, wood, etc.), andgenerally the tiles cannot be removed without being damaged. Exchangingtiles requires skills and is usually carried out by a skilled artisan.

Prior art magnetic tile systems are known to reduce the complexity ofthe tile replacement procedure. An example of magnetic tile systemsincludes tiles having magnetic means secured to their rear surface,adhered magnetically to a surface having a high magnetic permeability(e.g. a drywall primed with metallic paint).

A disadvantage with existing magnetic tile systems applied onto verticalwall or horizontal ground surfaces is that the mere magnetic bond oftheir rear surface to the underlying surface is not strong enough tohold them firmly in place for extended periods of time. Indeed, theposition of prior art magnetic tiles shifts too easily under theinfluence of gravity, the application of pressure thereon, vibrations,etc. Magnetic tile layouts thus have the disadvantage of quickly losingtheir neat and tidy look as the tiles' position easily shifts with time.The tiles become misaligned, and gaps and cracks appear between adjacenttiles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tile, for installation with at leastanother said tile on a wall surface having magnetic properties, saidtile comprising a rear surface, a front surface and a peripheral edge,wherein said tile rear surface has magnetic properties for magneticadherence to the surface, and said peripheral edge defines first andsecond fastening means, said first fastening means of one of said tilefor releasable connection to the second fastening means of an adjacentone of said tile.

In one embodiment, said rear panel is at least partially magneticallyattractive, and is for installation on a wall surface having highmagnetic permeability.

In one embodiment, said first fastening means consist of male fasteningmeans and said second fastening means consist of female fastening means,said male fastening means of one said tile being for interlockingengagement with the female fastening means of an adjacent said tile.

In one embodiment, a portion of said tile peripheral edge forms atongue, and another portion of said tile peripheral edge forms a groove,said tongue and said groove being of complementary shape.

In one embodiment, the tile further comprises a front panel, a rearpanel, and an intermediate panel sandwiched between said front and rearpanels, each one of said front, intermediate and rear panels defining aperipheral edge.

In one embodiment, said front and rear panels have similar peripheraldimensions, and are aligned together, and said intermediate panel isoffset relative to said front and rear panels. The offset of saidintermediate panel with respect to said front and rear panels causes:

-   -   a portion of said intermediate panel to extend beyond the        peripheral edges of said front and rear panels, this portion of        said intermediate portion forming said tongue; and    -   registering portions of said front and rear panels to extend        beyond the peripheral edge of said intermediate panels, thus        creating a channel having sides defined by said front and rear        panels, and a floor defined by said intermediate panel        peripheral edge, said channel forming said groove.

In one embodiment, said rear panel is made of magnetic sheet material.

In one embodiment, said tongue is provided with magnetically attractivemeans, enabling magnetic fastening of said tongue in said groove.

In one embodiment, said tile is made from flexible materials, enablingit to be resiliently bent.

In one embodiment, a decorative design is displayed on said tile frontsurface. The present invention also relates to a method of installationof magnetic tiles on a wall surface, said wall surface having magneticproperties, said method comprising the steps of:

-   -   providing a number of tiles, each tile comprising a rear        surface, a front surface and a peripheral edge, wherein said        tile rear surface has magnetic properties for magnetic adherence        to said wall surface, and said peripheral edge defines first and        second fastening means, said first fastening means of one of        said tiles for releasable connection to the second fastening        means of an adjacent one of said tiles;    -   magnetically adhering a first one of said tiles to said wall        surface by bringing said first tile rear surface into contact        with said wall surface;    -   connecting said first fastening means of said second tile with        said second fastening means of said first tile; and    -   magnetically adhering said second tile with said wall surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a number of magnetic tiles according to the presentinvention, some of them interlocked with each other and adhered to aportion of an elbowed wall surface shown in dotted lines in thebackground;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one of the magnetic tiles of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is side cross-sectional view of a magnetic tile, taken alonglines III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the magnetic tile of FIG. 2, showingin enlarged view the area demarcated by arrows IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view the magnetic tile of FIG. 2, showing inenlarged view the area demarcated by arrows V-V of FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 6-8 are side cross-sectional views of a magnetic tile, showingsequentially how a magnetic tile of the present invention is adhered toa magnetic surface, and how it is interlocked with an adjacent,previously installed tile.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a number of magnetic tiles 10 closely fitted next to eachother, and adhered magnetically on a surface S having magneticproperties.

As can be seen in FIGS. 2-8, each tile defines a front surface, a rearsurface having magnetic properties, and a peripheral edge. Each tile isprovided with first fastening means, and second fastening means. Thefirst fastening means of a given tile are for connection to the secondfastening means of an adjacent tile.

In one embodiment of the present invention, these first and secondfastening means are provided on the peripheral edge of each tile. Thesefirst fastening means are male fastening means, and the second fasteningmeans are female fastening means. The male fastening means of a giventile is for interlocking engagement in the female fastening means of theadjacent tile.

The embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings will now bedescribed. Each tile 10 defines three layers and comprises a front panel12 (forming the front surface of the panel), an intermediate panel 20and a rear panel 30 (forming the rear surface of the panel), each layerbeing fixedly adhered to the next one using conventional permanent-bondadhesive for example. The front, rear and intermediate panels may have asquare shape, and matching peripheral dimensions.

The outer face of front panel 12 is exposed when the tile is installed.As such it can optionally display decorative features such as bevellededges, an embossed, raised or printed pattern, etc. Front panel 12 couldfor example be made out of sheet vinyl. Front panel 12 can be contouredwith an imitation sealant joint so that the finished tile layout lookslike a traditional ceramic tile layout. Moreover, front panel 12 ispreferably coated with a protective layer (i.e. acrylic) to facilitatemaintenance and cleaning thereof.

Rear panel 30 is made of a conventional permanent magnet sheet material,for example a conventional resinous matrix into which are embeddedminute magnetic particles such as magnetic ferrite powder. Such magneticsheet material is sold for example by Ugarit M. A. Inc., a Canadiancompany.

As can be seen in FIGS. 2-5, the front and rear panels are aligned witheach other, i.e. the peripheral edge of both panels registers perfectlywhen the tile is looked at from the front point of view of FIG. 2.

An intermediate panel 20 is sandwiched between the front and rear panels12 and 30. Intermediate panel 20 is offset with respect to the front andrear panels 12 and 30 along X and Y axes extending in the plane of thetile (FIG. 2). The magnitude of the intermediate panel's X-axis offsetrelative to the front and rear panels 12, 30 is of equal magnitude thanthe Y-axis offset.

This offset causes a first portion of intermediate panel 20 to extendbeyond the peripheral edge of the front and rear panels 12, 30. Thisfirst portion forms a tongue 24. Opposite to this tongue 24, matchingand registering portions of front and rear panels 12, 30 extend beyondthe peripheral edge of intermediate panel 20, thereby forming a groove26 along the peripheral edge of tile 10. This groove 26 is a hollow,cross-sectionally U-shaped channel (FIG. 5), and has a shapecomplementary to that of tongue 24. The sides of this channel are formedby the front and rear panels 12 and 30, and the floor of this channelare formed by the peripheral edge of intermediate panel 20. Both thetongue 24 and the groove 26 are L-shaped. Tongue 24 defines two elbowedsections 24 a, 24 b, and groove 26 defines two elbowed sections 26 a, 26b.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, tongue 24 comprises magnetically attractivemeans. More particularly, tongue 24 defines an indentation 27 runninglongitudinally along its rear surface, i.e. the surface thereof facingrear panel 30. Indentation 27 is lined with a magnetic strip 28. Thedepth of indentation 27 is equal to the thickness of magnetic strip 28;the outer surface of magnetic strip 28 is therefore coplanar with therear surface of intermediate panel 20.

The materials from which the front, intermediate, and rear panels aremade are all flexible. This will enable the tile to resiliently deformand bend, and will greatly facilitate installation of the tiles onsurface S, as described hereafter. For example, front, intermediate andrear panels could be fabricated from recycled tire rubber granules, forenvironmental purposes.

The surface S onto which the tiles 10—which have a magnetic back—are tobe installed needs to have high magnetic permeability in order for thetiles to magnetically adhere thereto in a fixed yet removable fashion.One technique of providing a regular surface with high magneticpermeability is to coat it with conventional metallic paint or primer,generally composed of a hard-drying carrier such as latex paint, and ofiron particles suspended therein. Metallic paint, in order to beoptimally efficient, needs to be applied in various coats. Metallicpaint is for example sold by Kling Magnetics®, a US company, under brandname “Magic Wall Magnetic Paint”.

Surface S could initially be already covered with old tiles. To primesurface S to receive the magnetic tiles of the present invention, theold ceramic tiles are slightly sanded, and are then coated with a primerfor ceramic tiles (for example manufactured by US company “Zinsser”under brand name “Bulls Eye 1-2-3”), to promote adherence of themetallic paint thereon. Once the primer for ceramic tiles has beensuitably applied on the old tiles, metallic paint can be applied overthe primer. Surface S is then ready to receive the magnetic tiles.

Any suitable alternate technique could be used to provide surface S withhigh magnetic permeability. A high-permeability metallic panel can besecured beneath or over surface S, which can for example be drywall,plywood, etc.

To install the tiles on surface S, and more particularly on section Mthereof having high magnetic permeability—a drywall section coated withmetallic paint for example—a first tile 10A (see FIGS. 1 and 6-8) isadhered to the surface at the desired position, for example at thebottom right corner of the wall, as seen at 10A in FIG. 1. Then, asshown in FIG. 6-8, another tile 10B is interlocked with the first one.To do so, the workman aligns the tongue section 24 a of second tile 10Bwith the groove section 26 a of the first tile 10A, while bringing itclose to surface S. The user concomitantly bends the flexible tile 10Baway from the surface S, to diminish the magnetic attraction forcepulling the tile towards the high magnetic permeability portion M ofsurface S, and thus facilitate the precise positioning of the tile bythe user.

The tongue section 24 a of tile 10A is then inserted and interlocked inthe groove 26 a of tile 10A. As mentioned above, the rear surface oftongue 24 is lined with a magnetic strip 28, and one of the side wallsthe groove 26 is formed by rear panel 26, which is made from a magneticsheet material. Thus, when the tongue 24 of a first tile is inserted inand interlocked with the groove 26 of a second adjacent tile, magneticstrip 28 of said first tile concurrently comes into physical contact,and magnetically adheres to magnetic rear panel 30 of said second tile.This magnetic attraction between the tongue and groove portions ofadjacent tiles enables magnetic fastening thereof, and promotes durableimmobility of the tile layout.

Once tongue section 24 a of tile 10B is inserted in groove section 26 aof the adjacent tile, the user can release the tile in order for it toresiliently unbend and return to its planar shape, and allow its rearpanel to entirely magnetically adhere to surface S.

The process is then repeated by interlocking each tile, one at a time,with previously installed tiles. To install a tile 10E in a cornerformed by two previously installed adjacent tiles 10C, 10D (FIG. 1),tile 10E is first interlocked with one of the tiles 10C, 10D, and isthen interlocked with the other one. For example, the tongue section 24a of tile 10E is first interlocked with groove 26 a of tile 10D, leavinga slight gap between the tile 10E and the other previously installedtile 10C so that tile 10E clears tongue 24 a of tile 10C. Tile 10E isthen forcibly slid towards tile 10C, with sufficient force to overpowerthe mutual magnetic attraction force of magnetic strip 28 of tile 10Eand rear panel 30 of tile 10D that hinders the sliding motion, untiltongue section 24 a is snugly and completely engaged in groove 26 a oftile 10E.

In addition, the removal of tiles is very simple. Moreover, since thetiles are made of flexible material, one can select a tile to remove,and insert a flat-tip screwdriver of other similar device, in theinterstice between the tile and an adjacent one. The screwdriver is thenused to pry the tile out of position, and undo the interlockingengagement of its tongue/groove with the complementary groove/tongue ofthe adjacent tile, without any damage to the tile being pried out or thesurrounding tiles. This procedure quite easily to carry out, and is madepossible since the tiles are made from flexible materials. Indeed, thetongue, and the lateral sides of the groove are made from flexiblematerials, they can bend and deform to allow the tongue-and-grooveengagement between adjacent tiles to be undone by prying the tile awayfrom the wall surface S, without having to neatly disengaging theinterlocking tongue and/or groove of the tile being removed from thetongue/groove of the adjacent tiles.

The tiles of the present embodiment are of course efficient in dryenvironments, and have shown to be surprisingly efficient also in wetenvironments, for example in a bathroom. Indeed, the tongue-and-grooveengagement of adjacent tiles is substantially waterproof due to themagnetic interlocking of contiguous tiles, i.e. the adherence of thetongue of a tile in the groove of the adjacent one.

It is understood that modifications could be made to the above-describedembodiment, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the tiles are provided with amagnetically attractive rear surface, and the wall is provided with highmagnetic permeability to hold the magnetic tile. In alternateembodiments, the magnetic properties of the tiles and the surface couldbe inverted, i.e. the rear surface of the tiles could be made ofmaterials having high magnetic permeability, and the surface could bemagnetically attractive.

It is also understood that even though the entirety of the rear panel ofeach tile is made of a magnetic material, it could be made onlypartially magnetically attractive. For example, the rear panel could bea regular plastic sheet into which a number of holes are made, each holebeing fitted with magnets.

Although the tiles are shown to have a square shape, the tiles couldhave any other suitable shape. Moreover, the term “tile” as used in theappended claims should be interpreted to include any upright wall orfloor attachment that are for installation in contiguous, juxtaposedfashion. The present invention could indeed apply to baseboards, cyma,ogees, etc. It could also apply to soundproofing boards (made ofconventional acoustic fibres) that can be fastened to the walls of aliving room to make it soundproof (e.g. a home entertainment roomprovided with TV, loud speakers etc.)

The term “wall surface” in the appended claims should also be construedas including any suitable application surface (upright wall, floorsurface, ceiling, corners, etc.)

The embodiments of the present invention, in which an exclusive propertyor privilege is claimed, are defined as follows:
 1. A tile, forinstallation with at least another said tile on a wall surface havingmagnetic properties, said tile comprising a rear surface, a frontsurface and a peripheral edge, wherein said tile rear surface hasmagnetic properties for magnetic adherence to the surface, and saidperipheral edge defines first and second fastening means, said firstfastening means of one of said tile for releasable connection to thesecond fastening means of an adjacent one of said tile.
 2. The tileaccording to claim 1, wherein said rear panel is at least partiallymagnetically attractive, and is for installation on a wall surfacehaving high magnetic permeability.
 3. The tile according to claim 1,wherein said tile is made from flexible materials, enabling it to beresiliently bent.
 4. The tile according to claim 3, with said firstfastening means consisting of male fastening means and with said secondfastening means consisting of female fastening means, wherein said malefastening means of one said tile is for interlocking engagement with thefemale fastening means of an adjacent said tile.
 5. The tile accordingto claim 4, wherein a portion of said tile peripheral edge forms atongue, and another portion of said tile peripheral edge forms a groove,said tongue and said groove being of complementary shape.
 6. The tileaccording to claim 5, further comprising a front panel, a rear panel,and an intermediate panel sandwiched between said front and rear panels,each one of said front, intermediate and rear panels defining aperipheral edge.
 7. The tile according to claim 6, wherein said frontand rear panels have similar peripheral dimensions, and are alignedtogether, and said intermediate panel is offset relative to said frontand rear panels; wherein the offset of said intermediate panel withrespect to said front and rear panels causes: a portion of saidintermediate panel to extend beyond the peripheral edges of said frontand rear panels, this portion of said intermediate portion forming saidtongue; and registering portions of said front and rear panels to extendbeyond the peripheral edge of said intermediate panels, thus creating achannel having sides defined by said front and rear panels, and a floordefined by said intermediate panel peripheral edge, said channel formingsaid groove.
 8. The tile according to claim 6, wherein said rear panelis made of magnetic sheet material.
 9. The tile according to claim 5,wherein said tongue is provided with magnetically attractive means,enabling magnetic fastening of said tongue in said groove.
 10. The tileaccording to claim 1, wherein a decorative design is displayed on saidtile front surface.
 11. A method of installation of magnetic tiles on awall surface, said wall surface having magnetic properties, said methodcomprising the steps of: providing a number of tiles, each tilecomprising a rear surface, a front surface and a peripheral edge,wherein said tile rear surface has magnetic properties for magneticadherence to said wall surface, and said peripheral edge defines firstand second fastening means, said first fastening means of one of saidtiles for releasable connection to the second fastening means of anadjacent one of said tiles; magnetically adhering a first one of saidtiles to said wall surface by bringing said first tile rear surface intocontact with said wall surface; connecting said first fastening means ofsaid second tile with said second fastening means of said first tile;and magnetically adhering said second tile with said wall surface.